Skill management: software for skills and talent

What skill management does

It starts with a shared understanding of competencies: skill catalogues and taxonomies describe what roles require, and profiles show what employees bring. Comparing the two produces gap analyses for individuals, teams and the whole organisation – and with them the basis for deciding which competencies to build or hire. Many products use AI to infer skills from job profiles, CVs or project data.

Talent management functions build on this – career paths, succession planning, internal job marketplaces and staffing projects by competence. Digital credentials for acquired qualifications complete the category.

What to look for in skill management software

The value of a skills system depends on the quality and upkeep of its data. These questions help:

• Skill model: a supplied taxonomy, custom catalogues or both – and how is the model kept current?
• Data collection: self-assessment, manager assessment, automatic inference; transparency about how AI arrives at its suggestions.
• Use cases: inventory only, or also succession, internal mobility and workforce planning?
• Integrations: connections to the core HR system, learning platform and recruiting so that skills do not stay isolated.
• Compliance and cost: GDPR-compliant processing of performance and competency data, co-determination, rollout effort and pricing model.

Skill Management, Learn & Development or Employee Experience?

Learn & Development provides the courses and learning paths that close identified gaps. Performance management, appraisals and feedback sit under Employee Experience. People Analytics evaluates workforce data as a whole and uses skills data as one source among several.